The National Mini Rex Rabbit Club has posted the 2008 Sweepstakes Finals. We were pleased with our national placement of third place in the Opal Variety.
Although I don't really like the word, bittersweet, it applies here. It is bittersweet to see the 3rd place placement nationally of a variety we have cut back on. We have foundation stock and are rebuilding a bit...but most of our does would not produce and were recently culled. We are hoping for litters this spring.
And, it is bittersweet to have won the BEW variety in the local speciality club and not make placement on the national level. Twice we have attempted with this variety and this winter made the decision to once again sell-out our BEW variety.
In these times, both for financial and personal reasons, we have to evaluate a bit closer and choose a bit differently. Yes...without the competition, we do win. But, it is also a bit more costly to feed and enter rabbits in shows with no competition. Finding stock to improve the breed was difficult and/or costly.
Our focus once again is back to blue. We do have excellent stock (thanks to KT's Bunny Barn) and have some very nice juniors for the upcoming Kennewick (Tri-Cities Show). We hope the judges agree!
Emily and I have both loved blue Mini Rex so this should be a positive choice.
And...just to let everyone know. I have had some health challenges but we are going with "gallbladder" and I will be having surgery this May. Hopefully just an over-night procedure and no major operation. Keeping my fingers crossed on that.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Choosing Rabbit Shows Wisely
I was listening to a seminar by Jack Canfield yesterday, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul and now The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
. He was addressing a question about boundaries and setting your own personal limits and policies. This reminded me about many posts I read over the past few months about rabbit shows and the attendees disappointment.
One of the exercises from the seminar was to reflect on our own policies – either in our personal life or in business choices. One example Mr. Canfield used was he personally never loans out money or books. He is neither a bank nor a library!
He also went on to explain his speaking criteria. He has a list of eight considerations for speaking engagements. He assigns points to each of the criteria when evaluating a proposed speaking engagement. If the engagement meets the criteria, he will do it. If not, he says no.
As my practice exercise I refined the criteria we use when deciding on which Rabbit Shows to attend. Emily and I had already discussed our upcoming year with the goal of one show a month. And, informally, we had set criteria and then judged each show based on the criteria. The outcomes were pretty clear and in the end we were both very happy with the choices.
By setting the criteria we were able to choose shows that will meet our goals and our needs. By doing this, we will not be disappointed or let down by the shows. Yes, there will be unforeseen circumstances, but for the most part, we will be happy and satisfied.
With the current economic situation, many of us will be doing some evaluations on the shows. I will share my show criteria – based off of Mr. Canfield’s speaking criteria – to give you a place to start with your personal evaluations.
1. Timing – What is the date of the show and does it conflict with other activities/engagements?
2. “Compensation” – translated to rabbit terms – Will it be worth it go to there? Will there be enough of our breed to win legs? Do I have rabbits to deliver or for sale that will sell there? Multiple shows, specialty shows, etc.
3. Graciously hosting – What is the venue like? Is it convenient? Comment Cards if these are important?
4. Opportunity – Similar to compensation but could also apply to other benefits like a youth show or the ability to purchase the rabbits you need or want. Different judges could also fit here.
5. Networking Opportunity – Friendship and seeing friends. Rabbits are a HOBBY for us so the social interaction gets high points on my scorecard.
6. Easy – Will the show be easy to get to, easy to do, etc. I put cost in here – hotel needed, travel, entry fees, etc. as in “easy on the pocketbook”.
7. Fun – Again, this is a hobby and I want to have fun. I don’t want stress – I could stay home and be paid to have stress.
8. Impact – In rabbit terms, is this a state convention, national convention or other type of important show such as the Triple Specialties?
After going through the criteria, it becomes pretty clear on which shows meet your criteria and then which ones you should attend. You might be surprised that a show you go to every year doesn’t meet your criteria and then if your really reflect back, it probably has left you dissatisfied as well. And, you may also find yourself considering other shows that would be a better fit.
. He was addressing a question about boundaries and setting your own personal limits and policies. This reminded me about many posts I read over the past few months about rabbit shows and the attendees disappointment.One of the exercises from the seminar was to reflect on our own policies – either in our personal life or in business choices. One example Mr. Canfield used was he personally never loans out money or books. He is neither a bank nor a library!
He also went on to explain his speaking criteria. He has a list of eight considerations for speaking engagements. He assigns points to each of the criteria when evaluating a proposed speaking engagement. If the engagement meets the criteria, he will do it. If not, he says no.
As my practice exercise I refined the criteria we use when deciding on which Rabbit Shows to attend. Emily and I had already discussed our upcoming year with the goal of one show a month. And, informally, we had set criteria and then judged each show based on the criteria. The outcomes were pretty clear and in the end we were both very happy with the choices.
By setting the criteria we were able to choose shows that will meet our goals and our needs. By doing this, we will not be disappointed or let down by the shows. Yes, there will be unforeseen circumstances, but for the most part, we will be happy and satisfied.
With the current economic situation, many of us will be doing some evaluations on the shows. I will share my show criteria – based off of Mr. Canfield’s speaking criteria – to give you a place to start with your personal evaluations.
1. Timing – What is the date of the show and does it conflict with other activities/engagements?
2. “Compensation” – translated to rabbit terms – Will it be worth it go to there? Will there be enough of our breed to win legs? Do I have rabbits to deliver or for sale that will sell there? Multiple shows, specialty shows, etc.
3. Graciously hosting – What is the venue like? Is it convenient? Comment Cards if these are important?
4. Opportunity – Similar to compensation but could also apply to other benefits like a youth show or the ability to purchase the rabbits you need or want. Different judges could also fit here.
5. Networking Opportunity – Friendship and seeing friends. Rabbits are a HOBBY for us so the social interaction gets high points on my scorecard.
6. Easy – Will the show be easy to get to, easy to do, etc. I put cost in here – hotel needed, travel, entry fees, etc. as in “easy on the pocketbook”.
7. Fun – Again, this is a hobby and I want to have fun. I don’t want stress – I could stay home and be paid to have stress.
8. Impact – In rabbit terms, is this a state convention, national convention or other type of important show such as the Triple Specialties?
After going through the criteria, it becomes pretty clear on which shows meet your criteria and then which ones you should attend. You might be surprised that a show you go to every year doesn’t meet your criteria and then if your really reflect back, it probably has left you dissatisfied as well. And, you may also find yourself considering other shows that would be a better fit.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Empty nest boxes...
Well...after getting nest boxes in all the cages we only had two does kindle. It was quite a disappointment. We have another group of does due on February 10 so maybe we will have better luck.
Walking through the barn today, in actual daylight, we still have some nice rabbits. The litters we do have are progressing nicely, knock on wood, and we will have a few to show at the upcoming shows.
The first show will be the Portland Triple on Valentine's Day. I am looking forward to seeing how a couple of the juniors do even though they are on the younger junior side and more importantly it will be nice to see friends I haven't seen since December in Mt. Vernon. I guess the first Rabbit Show marks springtime for me!
If all goes well, Emily will also be attending. Depends on pass conditions coming home from Idaho.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
January Update - Breeding and 2009 Showing
Well, the weekly commitment didn't really work here. The New Year started off very busy. I traveled across Canada -- 5 cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and back to Calgary) in 8 days. I saw the very best of Canadian airports and weather.
Takes a week to catch up...and now it is nestbox duty. Emily breed every doe in our barn over the Christmas holiday. Now it is the waiting game to see how many took, how many deliver, and how many survive. After our battle last summer, we were pretty low on stock and didn't have a great fall breeding season. Our first round of winter breeding didn't deliver a lot of litters but the last one did much better. Now, we are entering the test time again...see if we can make it past the 3 month age where we lost many in the summer/fall breedings.
From the people we have talked with who have experienced similiar problems, we are "normal". It has taken them 7-9 months and longer to get to regular breeding, litters and overall production. We are on the cusp.
Cold weather continues to be a challenge for many here in the NW. We are not used to the heavy snows, cold and rains. We are not used to flooding in January! Our rabbits seem to be doing well and all have great fur.
Our focus seems to be the color BLUE...must be some significance there. We have some very nice blue Mini Rex litters now and more on the way. We have some nice blue and blue chin Mini Lops peaking their heads around nestboxes. Emily's breeding focus was to create more blue chins so this will be fun to watch and see how well the genetics program works for us.
I was sad to miss the IERBA show. I had truly hoped to make it this year. We had a great time at the shows they hosted last year. They are definately on our summer show list. We have also added the Sandpoint, ID show to the definate list. It was a great show last year and look forward to seeing all the Idaho/Montana/Washington friends we made last year.
We will be doing a MRFGNW Speciality show there this year which means we should have some bunnies working extra hard -- showing 5 times in two days!
Have a great weekend!
Takes a week to catch up...and now it is nestbox duty. Emily breed every doe in our barn over the Christmas holiday. Now it is the waiting game to see how many took, how many deliver, and how many survive. After our battle last summer, we were pretty low on stock and didn't have a great fall breeding season. Our first round of winter breeding didn't deliver a lot of litters but the last one did much better. Now, we are entering the test time again...see if we can make it past the 3 month age where we lost many in the summer/fall breedings.
From the people we have talked with who have experienced similiar problems, we are "normal". It has taken them 7-9 months and longer to get to regular breeding, litters and overall production. We are on the cusp.
Cold weather continues to be a challenge for many here in the NW. We are not used to the heavy snows, cold and rains. We are not used to flooding in January! Our rabbits seem to be doing well and all have great fur.
Our focus seems to be the color BLUE...must be some significance there. We have some very nice blue Mini Rex litters now and more on the way. We have some nice blue and blue chin Mini Lops peaking their heads around nestboxes. Emily's breeding focus was to create more blue chins so this will be fun to watch and see how well the genetics program works for us.
I was sad to miss the IERBA show. I had truly hoped to make it this year. We had a great time at the shows they hosted last year. They are definately on our summer show list. We have also added the Sandpoint, ID show to the definate list. It was a great show last year and look forward to seeing all the Idaho/Montana/Washington friends we made last year.
We will be doing a MRFGNW Speciality show there this year which means we should have some bunnies working extra hard -- showing 5 times in two days!
Have a great weekend!
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